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Ellie is now the proud owner of a new bed quilt! (And I’m thrilled to declare this one “D U N DONE!”) #fancyforestmedallionquilt #salmonandsouvlakisews #fancyforestquilt #elizabethhartmanpatterns #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcial #quiltersofinstagramWe spent nearly our whole day @webersfarm today, first the kids and me with our friends (sliding, sliding, and more sliding) and then in the early evening with Nik, taking our annual “Kids in Pumpkins” pictures. It was gloriously brisk and non-humid and sunny!! It’s FINALLY fall, ya’ll!! 🍁☀️🏵☀️🍂☀️Look! I made a circus tent! 😂😉 (you’ll have to wait until Christmas to see the final product.) #100daysofsewingbeforechristmas #salmonandsouvlakisewsI grew this salad. 👊👌🤛 #salmonandsouvlakigardens (Bowl contents include an Asian greens salad mix, red Russian kale, arugula, a lettuce mix called “Rocky Top”, hakurei turnips, red turnips, red radishes, purple radishes, and pink radishes, almost all seeds from @bakercreekseeds) #bakercreekseeds #growwhatyoueat #eatwhatyougrow #organicgardeningI have officially finished all the machine sewing there is to be done on Ellie’s quilt. Hand-stitched binding, here I come! 😍 (Also, I may never back a quilt with anything but flannel ever again. It’s so cozy!) #salmonandsouvlakisews #fancyforestmedallionquiltHere are a few bits of beauty for your Monday morning! 1️⃣ Yesterday, I finally started sewing my Lenten ornaments together. I have perfected my blanket stitch and also decided to embroider the day of Lent on the back of each one. These are the ornaments I cut out in Northern Ireland and glued in Greece! 2️⃣Secret sewing continues for #100daysofsewingbeforechristmas. I am in the, “Should I really have committed to all this quilting?” phase. And I am finding that 15 minutes a day of creativity is good for my soul. 😀 3️⃣ We managed to grow 2 sunflowers! Our first two ever! The seed package said these would get to be 9 feet tall so we clearly got the runts of the litter! 😂 Happy Monday!! #salmonandsouvlakisews #salmonandsouvlakigardens #salmonandsouvlakitravels #sewingforlentEllie turns eight tomorrow. I’m not really sure how that’s even possible. 😩 But anyway, thanks to inspiration from a Martin and Sylvia story (thanks @sparkle_stories!), she requested a chocolate cake pie for her birthday. 😂 This doesn’t exist on the Internet as far as I can tell in its particular form and so, without a recipe to follow, I just blind baked the piecrust, and then baked a chocolate cake inside of it. Here’s hoping it tastes good! . . , My go-to chocolate cake recipe is the Every Day Chocolate Cake from @smittenkitchen. It’s a super easy and totally delicious recipe, although I bet Deb has never baked it in a pie crust. 😂 #salmonandsouvlakibakes #cakepie #smittenkitchenI am approaching the end of the quilting on Ellie’s #fancyforestmedallionquilt. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted a quilting design where the quilting lines crossed over each other. I am embarrassed to say that in over 10 years of sewing, it had never occurred to me that I should change the pressure foot pressure. So I have for years felt frustrated and inadequate with my quilting skills because despite intense amount of pins, the fabric would always move, shift, and end up not looking all that great (at least to my critical eye). And then, last week, while I was quilting a baby quilt for donation, it occurred to me that maybe I should try to figure out what that dial on the side of my machine did. So, I looked in my sewing machine manual and discovered that I had been quilting on 3 when really I should’ve been using 1. And TA DA!! It turns out I am an expert straight line quilter! 😂 This quilt doesn’t have a single pucker or inch of fabric out of place. 👏👊👏👊👏 (@baltimoremqg - don’t kick me out for not knowing this, OK? 😉) #salmonandsouvlakisews #quiltersofinstagram #baltimoremqg #charmcitysewcial #quiltingtipoftheday #straightlinequiltingTonight, I’m getting caught up in @truthstable Season 2 (one of my favorite podcasts, you should definitely listen) and quilting Ellie’s #fancyforestmedallionquilt. I love my @husqvarnaviking sewing machine but this model was NOT designed for quilters and the throat is so small! However, I am managing to shove this giant quilt through it and I’m hoping to have the bulk of the quilting done by Sunday. 😀 #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcial #baltimoremqgI’ve started a stealth* autumn #100dayproject for myself. I inevitably get so caught up in busyness in the fall that I don’t do any sewing until December. And by then, all the sewing I end up doing is presents for extended family (also important!) and there are some things I really want to sew for my own family. So this year, I was determined to not let that happen and set myself a goal of spending at least 15 minutes a day EVERY DAY in my sewing room. Other than missing one day, I’ve achieved my goal every day since September 1st. Funny thing with forcing creativity - once you jump start it, it starts flowing! Actually spending time in my sewing room reminded me that it was about time that I finished Ellie’s #fancyforestmedallionquilt so in this past week, I pieced the back and today I got the quilt sandwich done. I gave her the partial quilt top for Christmas 2017 and I’m going to give her the completed quilt for her birthday (in 10 days). Is that cheating? 😂 In the meantime, I am carrying on with my secret sewing for #100daysofsewingbeforeChristmas. You’ll just have to wait until December 25 to see what all those projects will actually be. 😀🎄 . . . *I call it a stealth project because if I don’t announce it to the world, is it actually happening? 😂 #salmonandsouvlakisews #charmcitysewcial #baltimoremodernquiltguildI think this little pollinator-attracting perennial bed at the end of our vegetable garden has turned out nicely, don’t you? I got all the plants, except for the rosemary, from other parts of our yard. Cheers for perennials that reproduce themselves and make many free babies! 😀 (@erisner1410 - those daylilies started out at your house. 😀) I planted all the perennials in the spring and they have survived the hot summer. Hooray! #salmonandsouvlakigardensIt’s not quite as nice as swimming in the Aegean, but when it feels like 105 degrees F, the sprinkler feels pretty great too! 😀Categories
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Monthly Archives: October 2013
Mark Doesn’t Like the Ravens Either (who, by the way, are NOT the world champions)
Mark is in the very fun phase where he’s always shaking his head no (although, obviously, he doesn’t know what he’s saying). For some reason, he only does it when he’s sitting in his chair for meals. I figured I … Continue reading
Heading To New Heights
About a month ago, I walked out of our living room and found this: And yes, I grabbed the camera and took a picture before I moved him to safety. Quick, move the piano bench back over!! As you may … Continue reading
Posted in Mark
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Birthday Dinners (all three of them!)
Ellie, Nik, and I all celebrate our birthdays in a two-week span in late September/early October. Nik and I don’t generally give many (or any) gifts to each other but we do love good food! So our birthday dinners are … Continue reading
Posted in cooking, Ellie
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The Obligatory “Children in a Lot of Pumpkins” Pictures, Because It’s Fall!
(This is the best we got of Ellie by herself – not so into picture taking that night! :)) And a few outtakes: You are actually letting this girl hold me, on a table, with pumpkins?!?!?!?! Whee!!! “I’m trying to … Continue reading
Mark Figures Out How To Climb
(and Mama starts having daily/hourly/minutely heart attacks) because why just climb into the chair if you can also climb higher to get Mama’s book? from 10/9/13
Posted in Mark
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With My Apologies to Anyone Named Mark
For a few months now, I’ve been keeping a list of all the crazy puns I’ve been making just by using Mark’s name. I’ve been cracking myself up (and feeling a bit sorry for Mark and anyone else named Mark.) … Continue reading
Posted in just for fun, Mark
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Mark’s First Foods (A Baby-Led Weaning List)
Several people have asked me recently about what food exactly we feed Mark. I haven’t blogged much (or at all) about Mark starting solid food. I did with Ellie (you can find all those posts here) but somehow, so much … Continue reading
